Don’t politicize tax assessor’s office

CANDIDATE’S CORNER: Bob Giangrasso is the Democratic candidate for Washington Township Committee.

By:
   It is a sad state of affairs when Washington Township Mayor David Fried, my opponent Township Committeeman Vince Calcagno and the other Township Committee members have spent taxpayer money politicking through a letter sent to all the township residents with their tax bills this month of September.
   They should have the common decency to keep their own personal politics out of the totally nonpartisan activity of sending out tax bills to our residents. The tax assessors office must not be politicized.
   In the letter, Mayor Fried, my opponent Committeeman Calcagno and the other Township Committee members use vary flawed reasoning in thinking that somehow the increases in the school taxes and fire district taxes are separate from them and they have nothing to do with these. They are dead wrong. They have everything to do with the increases in school and fire taxes.
   The Township Committee sets the growth patterns for Washington Township. The Township Committee approves the Master Plan. The Township Committee approves the zoning ordinances. The Township Committee appoints the Planning Board and the zoning board members. The Board of Education and the fire district react to the growth patterns established by the policies of the Township Committee.
   The policies of the Master Plan and the zoning ordinances will ensure that the reliance on residential property taxes will remain can be seen with the already building Town Center which boasts 1,000 more residential properties in a very high density mode. Less than 3 percent of taxable properties in Washington Township are commercial or industrial, while 79 percent are residential. The Township Committee members just don’t get it.
   In the letter, Mayor Fried, my opponent Committeeman Calcagno, and the other Township Committee members say they are very proud of the fact that they kept the municipal tax rate steady. Actually they could have reduced the municipal tax rate if they really wanted to.
   There is a great deal of "fat" in this year’s budget. The Township Committee unanimously approved paying the planning director $93,212 a year. This position is not necessary and can be eliminated. With controlled growth and proper planning, we only need a principal planner. The Township Committee unanimously approved $70,000 a year salary for the chief financial officer — duties of which were previously performed by the former Township Administrator at a $3,000 a year salary.
   Also the Township committee unanimously increased their own salaries to a high of $8,000 a year for the mayor and $5,500 year for the other Township Committee members when these salaries were $4,500 and $4,000 a year, respectively, only a few years ago. They also increased their own Township Committee operating expense budget by 20 percent this year. These increases were done despite the reduced responsibilities of the Township Committee.
   Washington Township’s tax rate is now higher than Hamilton Township, Hopewell Township, Princeton Township and Lawrence Township and these municipalities all have higher populations and larger ratable bases. This is both frightening and unacceptable.
   All the wasteful and bloated spending could have been cut and the municipal tax rate could have actually gone down instead of remaining the same. Hamilton Township Mayor Glen Gilmore has proposed a budget that will lower the municipal tax rate in his municipality, and Hamilton already has a lower tax rate than Washington Township.
   We need a fiscally conservative attitude on Township Committee for all our budgetary matters. We need zero-based budgeting. I will provide this attitude if elected. I will fight to lower our municipal budget, and wasteful spending and work to actually lower the Washington Township’s municipal tax rate.
Bob Giangrasso is the Democratic candidate for Washington Township Committee.